Collectivisation: Impacts
Food Production
initial 1931 quotas met
drought in 1931
fall in production after 1931
lack of food caused famine
grain production exceeded pre-collectivisation levels after 1935
1913 = 80.1 million tonnes
1928 = 73.3 million tonnes
1935 = 75 million tonnes
meat doesn't exceed pre-collectivisation levels until after Stalin's death (1953)
146.7 million sheep and goats in 1928
61.1 million in 1935
Mechanisation
reduced the number of peasants needed to work the land
increased agricultural efficiency
by 1938 [...] was carried out mechanically
95% threshing
72% ploughing
57% spring sowing
48% harvesting
issues caused by tractors not being produced fast enough
major issues with breakdowns due to poor quality
Urban Population
increased from 22 to 63 million 1922-1940
money from grain exports funded industrialisation
poor conditions on farms fueled migration to cities
De-kulakisation
class warfare was not as successful as hoped
some poorer peasants did target kulaks
success of propaganda reflected in children denouncing parents
kulaks as a class had gone by mid-1930s
talented farmers were largely gone from fertile areas
did not solve passive resistance
Overall Success
1928 = only 1% farms collectivised
Sept 1929 = 7.4%
Sept-Dec rose to 15%
11 million households joined Jan-Feb 1930
raised total to over 50% (which fell before Stage 2)
by 1941 100% farms were collectivised
USSR succeeded in exporting more grain
Soviet regime was able to extend its political control to the countryside